FORT MEADE, Md. — Two men dressed in women's clothing were fired upon by National Security Agency police when they disobeyed orders at a heavily guarded gate had just stolen a car from a man who had picked them up to "party" at a motel, police said Tuesday.
The FBI said the driver, Ricky Shawatza Hall, 27, died at the scene, and his passenger remained hospitalized.
NSA police opened fire on the stolen SUV after the men failed to follow instructions for leaving a restricted area, authorities said.
Only minutes before that, the pair drove off in the sport utility vehicle of a 60-year-old man who had picked them up in Baltimore and brought them to a motel to "party," the SUV's owner, a Baltimore resident, who has not been publicly identified, told investigators.
The two men were dressed as women, but "not in an attempt to disguise themselves from authorities," FBI spokeswoman Amy Thoreson said, repeating in a statement Tuesday that terrorism has been ruled out.
The SUV owner told police that he went to the bathroom about an hour after checking in to a room, and when he came out, the others were gone, along with his car keys. Minutes later, just before 9 a.m., the men took a highway exit that leads directly to a restricted area at the NSA entrance at Fort Meade.
No one has explained yet why the men ended up outside the NSA. However, the new timeline suggests they may have simply taken a wrong turn while fleeing the motel, about 12 minutes away.
The FBI declined to comment on the conditions of the surviving suspect and officer, except to say they were being treated at a local hospital. They also haven't said how the man driving the stolen car died.
The FBI is investigating and working with the U.S. attorney's office in Maryland to determine if federal charges are warranted.
IN-DEPTH
— The Associated Press